Here’s the MBTA’s Plan to Make the Green Line B Branch Accessible

7:41 AM EST on November 15, 2024

Two images side-by-side show a green line train at a platform. The left image is a photo of a train next to a broken, narrow asphalt platform in the median of a multi-lane roadway as a pedestrian crosses in a crosswalk towards it. The right image is a rendering of a wider platform with benches, lights, and wayfinding signage and a fence that protects the platform from the adjacent roadway. — A comparison of an existing stop on Commonwealth Avenue along the Green Line’s B Branch (left) and an MBTA rendering showing what stops will look like in the future, after a project to make 10 stops compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Left image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Pi.1415926535, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0; right image courtesy of the MBTA.

Earlier this week, the MBTA hosted an informational meeting with potential design-build contractors to outline its plans to upgrade 10 stops on the B branch of the Green Line with wider platforms and accessibility for wheelchair users.

According to the MBTA's presentation, the project, tentatively scheduled to go under construction next year to be completed by the end of 2026, would upgrade 10 stops on the B branch west of Kenmore Square, where the Green Line runs in the median of Commonwealth Avenue.

A section of the MBTA rapid transit map focused on the B branch of the Green Line, highlighting its non-accessible stations at (from right to left) Blandford Street, Packard's Corner, Griggs Street, Allston Street, Warren Street, Sutherland Road, Chiswick Road, Chestnut Hill Ave., South Street, and Boston College. — Stations highlighted in yellow will be upgraded in the T's upcoming B branch accessibility improvement project. Courtesy of the MBTA.

Many of these stops today lack the basic amenities riders would expect to find at most bus stops, with nothing more than a narrow asphalt strip, with no shade or shelters, and no buffer between the platform and the adjacent roadway traffic on Commonwealth Avenue (see the photo at the top of this article for an example).

To make these stops compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and other building codes, the project will widen those platforms and elevate them by 8 inches to make them level with the floors on Green Line trains.

The project will also add robust crash barriers between the platforms and the roadway, and add basic station amenities like lighting, benches, and wayfinding signage.

Two side-by-side cross sections of a light rail stop. The left side, labelled "existing conditions" shows a wheelchair on a narrow strip between a train and a car. Bullets under the illustration read "platform too low to deploy bridge plate," "narrow platform," "uneven platforms," and "no rider separation from traffic."The right side, labelled "New platform improvements – meet minimum accessibility standards" shows a wider, elevated platform where a wheelchair is able to board the train at level, next to a streetlight and a barrier that divides the platform from an adjacent car on the roadway. Bullets under the illustration read "Platforms raised to 8 inches for bridge plate deployment," "widented platform to 7 feet 6 inches," "add traffic barriers," and "install lighting, benches, and amenities" — Details of the MBTA's B Branch accessibility improvement project. Courtesy of the MBTA.

Additionally, although it's technically accessible already, the T plans to relocate the last stop on the B branch – the Boston College stop – from its current location, at the entrance to the Lake Street layover yard, to the median of Commonwealth Avenue just east of the Lake Street intersection.

All these changes will also make the B branch compatible with the T's new, longer "Type 10" Green Line trains, which are scheduled to enter service in 2027.

Earlier this year, the T received a $67.6 million Federal Transit Administration grant to upgrade 14 non-accessible stops along the Green Line's B and C branches. This project will address 5 of the stops included in that grant application.